The Captain's Trial
by ThatGeekChick
Summary: Master Seacrafter Tiernan of the Seawing faces a trial at sea when an unexpected storm blows up more than just the waves.
1. The Calm Before the Storm

It was nearing midday and the sea was calm. Eerily so. There were no wherries in the air, no dolphins in the water. The winds had gone still, slowing the Seawing down to a bare crawl. The weather reports when they'd left Dolphin Cove a sevenday prior had indicated a small storm, but Tiernan had a bad feeling about things. There was nothing scholarly about his feeling - it was more gut instinct than anything that could be solidly defined.

"Captain," one of his deckhands called. "Should we turn around? Or try to maneuver around it?" Tiernan smiled in amusement. The deckhand was an apprentice, who they'd picked up at Dolphin Cove. He had struggled with his seasickness for a few days, and was just now becoming adjusted to calm seas. He'd need to have a word with the Master who assigned him to the Seawing about making sure apprentices had at least one extended trip under their belts before they were to complete the long trip up north.

"It's not supposed to be that severe, I'm sure we can sail through it. We have a schedule to keep, and the lack of wind is putting us behind enough already," Tiernan said. While the supplies they were taking North weren't perishable, they were important. Gauging by the conditions, Tiernan assumed they had at least a few candlemarks before the storm began.

He set out to begin preparing his ship for the worst. "Tie everything down!" He ordered commandingly. "Last and most important of all, yourselves." Squirt had already hidden himself in the Captain's Cabin, and was refusing to come out. That more than anything else was sign of what was to come. Squirt hated to be stuck inside - since his Hatching, he'd been permitted to fly around the ship at his leisure.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The sails had been tied down, slowing their progress even more. Tiernan had gathered all of the maps and sealed them in a waterproof tube. He would figure out where they were after it was through.

The apprentice deckhand stood nearby, fidgeting anxiously. "Where were you born, apprentice?" Tiernan asked.

"Sapphire Meadows, sir," the apprentice replied.

"Sapphire Meadows? So the only boats you saw as a child were riverboats?" Tiernan said with some amusement.

"Aye, Captain. I had hoped to be assigned to a riverboat. But... I told the Master that I'd been out to sea..."

"Ah, so now the confession comes out. Well, I can tell you honestly, if this is your first sevenday out to sea, this storm will likely cause you to rethink your choice of crafts," Tiernan said.

The apprentice's eyes widened in shock, and he hurried off to busy himself below decks.

"Bos'n!" Tiernan called out, summoning Boatswain Falorgan.

"Yes Captain?" Falorgan responded quickly.

"All ship's maintenance is up to date? Everything's waxed, tarred and tallowed?" Tiernan asked.

"Aye Captain. She's as good as she's going to get," Faloran answered. "I think the storm is going to be far worse than we were told though."

"I agree. The last time I saw the the sky this dark it was a hurricane near Dolphin Cove. But we were at port then, so it wasn't nearly so bad," Tiernan said. He'd been at see for hurricanes before, but never as Captain. "I do hope that we're wrong though."

Tiernan kept his gaze focused on the sky. Dark, angry clouds had hidden Rukbat from view, and he knew from the rise in humidity, and the feeling of electricity in the air that the storm would be starting shortly. Nodding to himself, he did one last walk of the ship. All non-essential crew were below decks, and absolutely everything that could be tied down had been.

He stopped at the Mess Hall, where his crew was collected. "Alright, quiet down, I need to talk to you!" He shouted to be heard over the ruckus of anxious sailors. "I know most of you have been through this before, but there are a few new apprentices who've not weathered their first storm yet. If you go above deck, or return below deck, you are to check in with the Quartermaster. If you see anyone go overboard, inform either myself of the Quartermaster immediately. Don't try to help them yourselves or you might end up overboard with them. When you're above deck, make sure you're tied down. We don't want anyone going overboard if we can prevent it. And don't take this as an excuse to take to drinking too much, we're going to be rotating people up top, so be ready for your shift."

As is typical, if you see a leak, take care of it to the best of your ability until the carpenter can have a look and see what he can do. Understand?"

"Aye aye Captain!" Came a chorus of responses. Tiernan grabbed a wherhide jacket, which had been coated in order to resist water better. He pulled on a knit hat and took a deep breath, as he surveyed his crew.

"Alright, now that that's all gotten cleared up, who's seen my bottle of rum? I need at least a bit to get me through what is to come!" Tiernan said with a mischievous grin.

The ship's cook walked over to him and handed him the bottle, which he took a hearty swig of. "Alright men, let's show this storm what the crew of the Seawing is made of!"


	2. The Winds Begin to Kick Up

Tiernan stood next to his First mate at the Helm, waiting for the storm to begin. The winds were beginning to pick up a bit, and the waves were starting to get bit higher than normal. "How's she responding to the wheel?"

"It's not bad yet," Paraner said. "I don't think this storm will be as bad as you feared, sir. Just a squall."

Tiernan shook his head, "Honestly, this is one occasion where I hope that you prove me wrong." Light rain drops began to fall, splashing lightly on Tiernan's face. To the Captain, the raindrops were mocking - deceptively non-threatening. But he wasn't going to get too comfortable. He still had the sense that it was going to be a big storm.

"We should untie the sails, try and take advantage of this bit of wind, at least until it gets worse," Paraner said.

"I fear that this will go from just a light drizzle to a very intense storm in short order," Tiernan said. "But I don't want these supplies to be late, else I'd just have us try to steer around it."

"I think you're right about that, I doubt this one will be worth trying to avoid," Paraner agreed. Tiernan silently hoped that his First Mate was correct.

A half candlemark passed, and the storm hadn't increased in intensity, and Tiernan was beginning to wonder if he made the wrong decision. He'd been a Captain for around 2 turns now, and he still had moments where he doubted himself. Swearing under his breath, he decided to give the storm another half candlemark before making his decision.

Mere moments after the thought of waiting occurred to him, the wind picked up strength drastically, tossing Paraner and Tiernan about at the helm. He quickly struggle to right himself, an action that was made far more difficult by the rain that was now falling in sheets. The wind was whipping around so much that the water seemed to be coming from in front of the ship, rather than from the side. Tiernan was not fooled.

The Seawing bucked from side to side, as wave after wave crashed into her. The few crew members who had stayed on the deck scrambled to keep their footing on the slick wooden deck, and Tiernan watched as one slammed into the side of the ship with a sickening **CRACK**. Tiernan stumbled down to the main deck, struggling to identify the man as he approached, who's identity was masked by the large hat and jacket that he was wearing.

As he got closer, he recognized it as the ship's carpenter, a man by the name of Galliet. "Gall? Gall, are you alright?" Tiernan asked as he suck to his knees beside the man.

"Aye Captain," Galliet responded, his voice strained as he attempted not to cry out with pain. "I... My arm. I fear it's broken," he said after a moment.

"I'll help you get below deck to the healers," Tiernan said. The ship was bucking too wildly for him to pick Galliet up, but he managed to half carry, half drag the burly man down below the decks. "Hawthen!" He called out, trying to find the Journeyman Healer who was on the Seawing.

"Aye Captain?" The healer responded, carefully making his way over. "Oh... Galliet's been hurt, that isn't good."

"No, no it's not," Tiernan agreed. While every seagoing apprentice was required to have basic ship repair skills, their carpenter was nearly as vital to their survival as their cook was. And he wasn't going to do anyone well with a broken arm.

"I'll get him fixed up as best I can, Captain," Hawthen said. He quickly removed the jacket from Galliet's form, and managed to get him into a small cot where he would be more comfortable. The jacket removed, Hawthen gave Galliet a dose of fellis, and inspected the broken limb carefully before gesturing the Captain aside.

"I'll do what I can, sir, but this is a bad break. I couldn't set it properly out here even if the ship wasn't shaking like mad, and the bone is through the surface. If we don't get him back to shore sometime soon he might lose the limb - or worse," Hawthen said.

Tiernan shook his head. "Who knows how long we'll be stuck out here at this rate," he said. "Do what you can, make sure he stays comfortable. Talk to me before you try to amputate, or if he gets any worse, you hear?"

"Of course, Captain," the healer said, cleaning his hands with redwort. "I'll concentrate on getting it set a bit better, and stopping up the bleeding. Maybe we'll get lucky and the winds will push us towards the Northern Continent quicker than we'd hoped."

"If only we could be that lucky," Tiernan said dryly. "I'm heading back to the deck, hopefully I won't have any more patients for you."

"I hope so as well, Captain."

As Tiernan departed, he almost immediately went back on his words, as a particularly strong wave send him sprawling awkwardly into a wall. He hit his head, although not hard enough to cause serious damage.

"Oh sweet Faranth, how much worse is this going to get?" Tiernan said aloud. But the storm had just begun, and he knew that it wouldn't be over that easily.


	3. The Hurricane

Tiernan rubbed his head quickly before looking down at his hand to ensure that he wasn't bleeding. His ears were ringing, but he wasn't certain if that was because of the blow he'd taken, or because of how loud it had been above deck. Tiernan straightened for another attempt to go above, then was knocked back down as someone was propelled into him as the ship bucked once more.

It was apprentice Fievan. His face was white with fright, and his eyes were wide. "S...sorry sir, I was told to replace Galliet above. My father works as a Woodcrafter. I know some about repairing boats," he explained quickly.

Tiernan felt his heart go out to the boy, who looked to be around 14 turns. The sea wasn't the place for him, and he knew it. But they needed every man they had working, and that meant that he couldn't precisely force good help to stay below decks. "Be careful," he said.

Tiernan hoisted himself up, and was astonished by what he saw. Despite the fact that everything had been tied down to the best of the crew's ability, a few barrels had come loose, and were careening about as the ship was tossed by the waves. Tiernan pointed to one, and shouted to Fievan to be heard over the wind. "Get that one below deck, I'll grab the other," he said. The wind was now strong enough to bend him over double. The wind was bringing the bow of the ship around, and as a result, the Seawing was being propelled sideways through the water. "Well, that explains why we're getting bucked around so much..." he said softly.

Ignoring the barrel for the moment, Tiernan moved to the helm, where his First Mate Paraner was fighting with the wheel. "I'll take over here," Tiernan said, wrapping the rope that was about his waist around the ship's wheel to ensure that he stayed in place near it.

"Aye aye, Captain," Paraner said.

"Grab that barrel over there and chuck in below, and see to it that Fievan knows what he needs to be doing," Tiernan commanded, as he fought with the wheel to bring the ship about to face properly. "We'll break up into half candlemark shifts at the wheel," he added. "This is too strenuous of work for anyone to do for long."

"Yes Captain," Paraner said, as he left to go wrangle the errant barrel into a less damaging location.

At the helm, Tiernan was fully at the mercy of the storm. The rain drops that were falling hit his face with force hard enough to sting, making it difficult for him to keep his eyes open. He squinted hard, trying to determine what direction the wind and waves were coming from so he could steer the ship accordingly. After some though, he decided it best to stop fighting the waves to maintain course, and instead just to allow the water to push them about as it would, and to deal with the consequences later. He'd worry about where the water had taken them once they had a good clear night.

By now, the storm had been raging for over a candlemark, with no signs of slowing. There was no doubt in Tiernan's mind that what they were in the middle of wasn't no tiny summer squall - it was a full blown hurricane. And despite the fact that Tiernan had steered the ship to best avoid the full force of the churning seas, it was still a constant battle with the wheel to keep the ship steady.

All of the sudden, it became easy to manage for a moment, and Tiernan had a glimmer of hope that perhaps they were reaching the eye of the storm. But then the storm punished him for his optimism, as a huge wave came up over the side of the Seawing, crashing directly into Tiernan. Tiernan lost his grip of the wheel, and forced down against the deck. The force of the impact forced the air from his lungs, and when he gulped to refill them, he got only sea water.

Coughing and sputtering, Tiernan grabbed ahold of the ropes that held him to the wheel, and pulled himself up to a standing position.

"Captain, are you alright?" Second Mate Uvannt said, clapping him roughly in the back. "Paraner sent me up here to relieve you, it's been a half candlemark," he explained, roping himself to the wheel in much the same fashion that Tiernan had.

Tiernan nodded, as he continued to cough sea water up from his lungs. Uvannt assisted him in getting his rope untangled from the wheel, then turned his focus back to the task that was steering the Seawing safely.

Tiernan headed back below decks once more, grabbing Fievan as he passed. "You're shift up top is over, get back down where it's safe," he directed.

Hawthen was waiting for him below decks, and wrapped him quickly in a mostly dry fur blanket. "You alright Captain?" He asked.

Tiernan nodded, "Yes, I think I'm alright. How's Galliet."

"The arm is splinted, and he's had enough fellis to put him out. I can't do much more with him until we get to calmer waters," Hawthen said.

Tiernan nodded his understanding. The longer the arm remained unsplinted, and the wound unstitched, the greater the chance that it would become infected, or worse, require amputation. Tiernan sighed deeply. In his 2 turns as a Captain, he'd done rather well for himself, rarely having anything more than a minor injury aboard his ship. This would be the first real test for him and his crew. He just hoped that everyone made it out alive.

"Can I get you anything?" Hawthen asked.

"Rum. Just rum."


End file.
